


Christmas

by Stylin_son



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-19
Updated: 2013-03-02
Packaged: 2017-11-29 21:02:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 8,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/691398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stylin_son/pseuds/Stylin_son
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I wrote something for my best friend and sister, August, about her and Zayn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I guess I should start with 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [infinitelumo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinitelumo/gifts).



Zayn sat on his bed, running his finger absently over his red duvet cover. He checked his phone once again. He’d left Perrie almost a million messages, telling her they needed to talk. Maybe she was just prolonging the inevitable. She had to know what was coming. Perrie wasn’t dumb. Zayn felt really bad, breaking up with her a week before Christmas, he really did. But it was just time to move on.

Finally, almost an hour a later, it was over. Zerrie was no more. Zayn had thought Perrie would have been more upset when he broke the news to her over the phone (they were in two different countries), but she seemed to anticipate what he was going to say.  She has sniffled a little, but they had been able to end the phone call on agreeing they could still be friends.

“Hey, you OK?” Zayn started, sitting up quickly.

“I’m OK,” he said sinking back onto his bed. Liam grunted and climbed onto the bed next to Zayn, throwing his arms around his best friend.

“How’d it go?” Liam pressed gently.

Zayn shrugged. “Not as bad as I thought,” he admitted. “I just feel bad, breaking up so close to the holiday and all, you know?” He turned his head to look up at Liam.

“I know exactly,” Liam replied, nodding thoughtfully.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a moment, both just enjoying the feeling of hugging on the bed. Zayn wasn’t a very touchy-feely kind of guy, so when he allowed one of the boys to do this, it was to be savoured.

“Why did you do it?” Liam asked eventually, his voice loud in the place of silence. “You two always seemed happy enough.”

“We were, I guess.” Zayn paused for a minute, trying to explain his reasoning. He buried his head into Liam’s shoulder.

“You don’t have to say anything, if you don’t want,” Liam soothed, sensing his friends distress.

“No, it’s OK. I guess…” Zayn took a deep breath. “There was this girl,” he began. “I saw her when we stopped for coffee before preforming the other night. I didn’t catch her name, though.” Zayn shook his head sadly. “She was just so…so pretty. And she didn’t freak like the rest of the girls, either.”

“Hold on,” Liam interrupted. “Was she the blond who came up and asked for an autograph for her sister?”

“Yeah,” Zayn nodded.

“So, you broke up with Perrie, for some girl in Starbucks?” Liam sounded incredulous.

“Pretty much,” Zayn shrugged again.

“Oh my god, mate,” Liam chuckled. “You have got yourself in so deep this time! Why the hell didn’t you say anything? We could’ve gotten her name for you!”

“I just…panicked?”

“You, Zayn Malik, _panicked_?” Liam laughed loudly.

“Shut up, it’s not funny!” Zayn shoved his friend, turning his back on him, rather hurt that Liam found this all so funny.

“Aw, Zayyyyn,” Liam attempted to control his laughter. “C’mere, little Mr. Sensitive.” Zayn allowed himself to be rolled over and back into Liam’s arms. “I’m sorry if I sounded insensitive, I really am. I’ve just never seen you so…” Liam searched for the right word. “Confused? Head over heels? Whatever it is, you should go and find her! The boys and I will help.”

Zayn pondered this for a moment. Liam did sound very sincere. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea? But what would he do if he actually _found_ this girl? He couldn’t just go and say “ _Hi, I’m Zayn, I think you’re really pretty and fit, let’s go out_.” That would probably get nowhere, if it didn’t earn him a smack right across the face.

“Hey,” Liam interrupted his train of thought. “No thinking this through! We’re going, right now. End of story.” Liam leaped off the bed, already calling for the other boys to assemble. “C’mon lazy!” He called back at Zayn as he ran out of Zayn’s room.

“Payne! Come back here, I didn’t agree to this!” Zayn shouted, only half-heartedly.

Part of his was going to absolutely kill Liam, in some slow and painful manner. But the part…well, it was all he could do to keep his heart from positively beating out of chest. He was finally going to see her. The girl he had been stupidly thinking about for almost a week now. No, he had totally _not_ had more than 3 dreams about her, and had totally not found himself looking for her in every Starbucks. Don’t be stupid. 


	2. Starbucks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn wants coffee

All 5 boys piled into Harry’s Land Rover, and blasted the heat on high. Harry and Louis were up front, Zayn and Liam in the middle, with Niall sprawled across the back seats.

“So,” Harry began conversationally. “Where am I taking us again, Master Payne?”

“Starbucks, Harry.” Liam rolled his eyes at Zayn.

“Isn’t it too late for coffee?” Niall wondered from the backseat. “Really, we should be going to a bar.”

“OK, first off,” Liam started, turning around to face Niall. “Not all of us can have beer with our cereal like certain Irish folks I know.” Niall grinned. “Second of all, it’s what, 12 in the afternoon? I think it would be a little scandalous if One Direction, boy band extraordinaire, walked into a bar this early.”  

“It’s not _that_ early!” Niall whined. “Ugh I’m hot, turn down the heat?”

“We know Niall, we know.” Zayn winked at the blond boy before turning around to smirk at Liam. Liam just rolled his eyes.

“Another Ziall moment!” Louis crowed from the front seat.

“The infamous bromance strikes again!” Harry chimed in.

“No, Niam is so much better!” Liam shouted, pulling Niall in for a kiss on the cheek.

“No, Ziall!” Zayn protested, grabbing Niall in turn to give the boy a kiss too.

It went back and forth like that for a couple of minutes. Zayn would yell “Ziall!” and kiss Niall, and then Liam would yell “Niam!” and kiss Niall on the other cheek.

“OK, OK, we get it lads!” Niall finally yelled, shoving both boys off of him. “We get it, you both are madly in love with me,” he said cheekily. “But right now, we’re at Starbucks, so you’ll have to fight over me later.”

Zayn’s heart suddenly leapt into his throat. _Stop being so stupid, you’ve never even met her!_ He chided himself. _Pull yourself together man._ The boys stepped out into the cold, dry air. They sprinted the short distance from the car to the coffee shop, sighing in relief when the hot air hit them.

Liam dragged Zayn up to counter. He smiled brightly at the barista. “Hi, could we have 2 venti plain coffees -no sugar or cream- 1 double chocolate chip Frappuccino, 1 black tea, and?” He paused and looked at Zayn. “What do you want, Zayn?”

“Uh, could I have a double chocolate thingy too?”

“Sure!” The girl smiled brightly. “Coming right up.”

The two boys walked over and sat down at a table with the rest. Zayn scanned the café. There was practically no one there, which was funny considering it was about noon on a cold Tuesday afternoon. Usually people where in here getting their lunches and afternoon coffee’s.

“Two black coffees?” The girl called.

Harry and Liam got up and walked over to the counter. Zayn watched them, and he saw Liam lean over the counter and begin to question the girl. He dropped his head into his hands.

“Hey, Zayn,” he felt Niall poke his sides. “You OK?”

Zayn lifted his head. “Yeah, I’m OK.” He smiled a little. “Just afraid Liam’s going to make a complete arse out of himself.”

“He’s quite a charmer, that one.” Louis said.

“I thought that was Harry?” Zayn teased.

Louis looked down at his hands, blushing. “Well, him too…But Liam’s a total ladies’ man, so whatever.” He rushed on after a pause.

“Uh huh, OK Lou.” Zayn and Niall smirked at each other.

“Shut up you two!” Louis crossed his arms, pretending to pout.

Liam and Harry sat down at the table, Harry instantly scooting closer to Louis and wrapping his arm around the shorter boy. Liam handed Zayn his drink, and slyly slipped something else into his hand. Zayn looked at the piece of paper, then at Liam, and then back at the paper. Liam nodded encouragingly.

Zayn slipped it under the table, and opened it up. On the piece of paper was a name scrawled in neat, block letters: August. He folded the paper back up and tucked it into his jacket pocket. Well, it was a step. At least now he could put a name to the face. While the other boys were gossiping and tossing insults back and forth, Zayn finally let his mind wander and think about this girl, August.

Zayn wasn’t sure what had made him like her so much in such a short amount of time. She had barely said anything to him, and yet he had been fascinated by her immediately. Maybe it was her bright blue eyes, or her shiny blond hair.

 She had a funny accent, definitely not from around here. Was she from the States? No, probably not the States. However, if she were far enough north, she could’ve been. Zayn wasn’t familiar with northern American accents. Maybe she was Canadian?

“Zaaaaaayn, we’re leaving!” Harry called, disturbing Zayn from his deep thought. He sat up straight, blushing slightly. He glanced around. How long had he been day dreaming? Liam smirked at him. He stuck out his tongue. He earned a laugh from Liam.

They walked out the door, and were hit with a blast of freezing air. Zayn shivered and pulled his jacket closed a little tighter. He heard Louis yelling at Harry to hurry up and open the car, or he was going to freeze, and if he froze he would positively kill Harry. Zayn smiled to himself. Leave it to Louis to be overdramatic, as always.

“It’s snowing!”

Zayn looked up. It was indeed snowing. He stuck his tongue out and caught one on his tongue.

“Zayn, look.” Liam nudged Zayn in his ribs.

Zayn looked around, suddenly worried they were going to be ambushed by the paparazzi. But no, it was just the opposite. All he was a purple beanie, a leather jacket, combat boots, and fingerless gloves. Silky blond hair tumbled from under the beanie, and all Zayn wanted to do was feel it. _That sounded creepy_ he thought. _Oh well._

“Uh,” was Zayn’s response to Liam.

The girl- _August_ \- looked up, and flashed a small smile at the boys. Zayn noticed she didn’t have her glasses on today. Liam sighed, and before Zayn could stop him, he approached the girl. Man, Zayn so was going to kill him.


	3. August

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Liam

“Hi, I’m Liam!”

“Hi, I’m August,” the girl replied, a little shocked that Liam had just gone up and said hi out of the blue.

“Hi August,” Zayn could just hear Liam smiling smugly from where he stood. “So, uh, I’ve got a question,” Liam lowered his voice before continuing. August leaned in a little closer to Liam, listening intently. After what seemed like ages, Zayn saw August blush, but nod an affirmative to whatever Liam had just told her.  

Liam glanced back at Zayn before continuing to talk to August, raising his voice back to normal level.

“So, are you from around here?”

 “No,” August shook her head. “I just moved into a flat a couple months ago with my sister Anna.”

“Oh, really?” Liam sounded genuinely intrigued. “Do you live far from here?”

“No, not too far. I live just up the street a couple blocks,” she gestured with her hand a ways down the street. “But before that I was in Canada, and she was in the States.”

This drew Zayn’s attention. Sisters living in two different countries? This would be a good one. Zayn slowly made his way over to where the two were standing.

“Whoa,” Liam raised his eye brows. “You two were living in two different countries? That’s bonkers!”

“Well, technically we’re not blood related.” August back tracked a little bit. “We originally were just good friends, but then we just kind of decided calling each other sis worked just fine. So we ended up using “sis” more often than “bestie” or whatever.” August shrugged. “But now we’re together again!” She smiled brightly.

“Partners in crime, at it again,” Zayn said. August grinned at him and nodded.

“You know it!” She said gleefully. “Burr,” she shivered. “I’m freezing. Are you guys coming or going?”

Zayn was about to say coming, when they were interrupted by Niall slamming the car door, yelling something obscene. Liam chuckled, and Zayn cursed Niall for having such bad timing.

“All the bloody time,” Niall was saying as he stormed up to them. “Every bloody time I’m the car, they start at it! I’m scarred for life,” he moaned.

“What?” Liam asked, wrapping his arms around Niall’s waist.

“Harry and Louis,” was all Niall said.

“Ah, I see.” Zayn and Liam shared a knowing glance. Poor August looked totally confused.

“Uh…” August had herself half in the door, half out.

“I’ll explain later,” Zayn quietly told her.

“Well, tell them they can go home or whatever. Zayn and I are going to stay for a while.” Liam told Niall, pushing him towards the car. Niall groaned and pulled Liam along with him.

“Zayn, will you get me a hot chocolate? I hate the after taste of coffee.”

Zayn nodded and followed August back inside the shop once more. He leaned over the counter, and watched as she began setting up to make the hot chocolate. Every once and a while August would sneak a glance at him, and Zayn would suddenly become entirely too interested in the cup holders in front of him.

“Here ya go,” she said placing two steaming cups in front of him.

“Thanks,” he smiled shyly.

“So,” August hoped up and sat on the counter. “What’s it like, being the ultra-famous Zayn Malik from One Direction?” Her tone was light, teasing, but he could tell she was actually interested.

“Well, it’s not easy,” he said with an attempt to sound snobby and sophisticated. “I mean, you have millions of girls hanging over you all the time.” August gasped, acting scandalized.

“That’s not even the worst!” Zayn continued, playing it up. “I have to live with these five _boys,_ and they smell something awful and there’s never any food because Niall eats it all.” He whined.

“Welcome to my world,” August sympathized, putting her hand on Zayn’s arm. He tried to ignore the _zing_ that set every nerve alive at her touch. “There are only two of us, and Anna still manages to eat everything and anything!”

Zayn laughed. “They’d make a good couple, then!”

“Not at all,” August contradicted. “There’d be no food, and then they’d have to share. Anna doesn’t do sharing food very well,” she warned.   

“Hmm,” Zayn pondered this. “Perhaps you’re right.” He put his finger on his chin, tapping it slightly.

August burst into a fit of giggles, rolling her eyes. She shook her head and waved her hand, almost as if she was dismissing Zayn. Zayn cocked his head to the right, and August mimicked him. Zayn had the strange urge to kiss her…

“ZAYN!” The two startled and leaned back, not realizing how close they had actually been. Nose to nose, almost.

“What could you possibly want now?!” Zayn snapped.

“Liam sent me for his hot chocolate, s’all.” Niall bounded over to the counter and grabbed the to-go cup. “Are we takin’ you home or leaving you here to fend for ya self?”

“Um,” Zayn shrugged.

“Leave him here,” August piped up. “I get lonely when no one’s around, and Anna isn’t coming till later, so I could use the company.” She smiled at Zayn.

“A’ight, I’ll tell the rest of the lads.” He started towards the door. “Be good you two!” Niall called just before the door swung shut.

“What do you do when no one’s around?” Zayn wondered aloud.

“Usually I just do the bare minimum of cleaning, and then I spam Anna’s phone until she gets out of school.” August reached up to grab a heavy looking box right above her head.

It teetered dangerously on the edge of the shelf. Zayn quickly hopped over the counter, and pressed himself against her back so that he was able to get the box before it came crashing down on her head. He carefully placed the box on one of the lower shelves before looking at August.

“You really need to be more careful,” he teased her. “You’re lucky I’m here to save you, or you would’ve been dead!”

August turned around so that she was facing him (no, stop that. Of course he was not at all thinking of how their hips were pressed together. Stop making assumptions.) and rolled her eyes.

“Yes, the damsel in distress,” she placed her arms around his neck. “What ever would I have done without my knight in shining armour? What can I do to repay this great debt?” She replied with sarcasm.

“Hmm,” Zayn grinned mischievously.

“Uh oh,” August’s eyes widened. “I’d know that look anywhere.” Zayn cocked his head to the side. “That’s the same look Anna has right before she gets me into trouble!”

“Well, I am the bad boy in this band.” Zayn reminded her.

August threw back her head and laughed. She dropped her hands from his neck onto his waist. “Nice try, but no one matches up with my sis.”

“How would you know?” Zayn challenged. “I want to meet this Anna girl. You talk _way_ too much about her for any of it to be true.”

“Alright, you want to meet her?” Zayn nodded. August bit her lip, seeming to decide on something. “Come home with me,” she proposed. “Come meet Anna, but bring Niall along? I want to try something out.” She grinned evilly, rubbing her hands together. 

“This should end really well,” Zayn muttered. “Alright, what time? And where,” he added as an afterthought. 


	4. Oh la la

August reached into her apron for a Sharpie, her hand tugging up Zayn’s shirt a little as she drew out the marker and held up Zayn’s arm. She blushed ever so slightly. Zayn backed away slightly, realizing they were still pressed up against each other.

“There is absolutely nowhere to write on your arm!” She complained.

“What do you mean?” Zayn asked, examining his arm. “There’s plenty room! I haven’t even completed my sleeve yet.”

“Well, compared to most peoples arms.” August reasoned. She found a spot on his arm and scribbled down her information. “Should we say, oh I dunno, like 7?”

“7 works,” Zayn nodded and tried not to sound too excited. “Alright, 7 at your place, and bring Niall?” August nodded. “Great,” Zayn smiled. “Do you want us to, like, bring anything? I’m not the best cook, but I’m not too bad.”

“No, it’s fine.” August smiled and walked over to a complicated looking machine. “If you want to help cook that’d be awesome though.”

“Yeah, it’ll be no problem. I like cooking sometimes. It gets boring when Harry cooks, or when we only get take out.”

“What, you get bored of eating out every night?” August asked, turning around to gawk at Zayn. “I don’t believe it!”

“It’s totally true!” Zayn protested, throwing his hands up in the air. “Eating out all the time isn’t as fun as you’d think.”

August laughed, grabbing a towel from the rack on a different counter. She wet it at the sink, and then proceeded to wipe down said complicated looking machine. When she was finished, she passed by Zayn and flicked him with it, spraying him with water.

“Oi!” Zayn jumped, snapping out of his daze. “What…?”

August just looked at him innocently. “Oops, get you wet?” Zayn attempted to glare at her. August put her hand over her mouth, trying to swallow the laughter that was threatening to appear.

Just as Zayn was about to launch himself at the little blond girl, two loud Asian girls wandered in. August huffed, but went to go take their order, leaving Zayn to try and get some of the excess water off.

Zayn’s phone beeped with a text from Liam:

_U ok? What’s the plan 4 2nite_

Zayn quickly replied:

_Going 2 her house @ 7 bringing Niall_

Liam replied almost immediately:

_Well then get home so we can get u ready ;)_

Zayn slipped his phone back in his pocket, and waved good bye to August, who was still dealing with the two apparently very fussy costumers. He walked outside, not surprised when Liam pulled up a few seconds later.

“Get in, loser, we’re going shopping!” Niall called from the back seat.

Zayn rolled his eyes and hoped in the front seat. He was immediately bombarded with questions from Niall.

“What’s August like? What about Anna? Is she hot? Do I get to meet her?”

“Niall!” Zayn shouted in attempt to be heard by the Irish boy. “Yes, you get to meet both of them. No, I don’t know if Anna’s hot. August is…she’s nice.”

“Nice? Just nice?” Liam asked suspiciously.

“Well,” Zayn continued cautiously. “She seems really smart, and funny. She can be sarcastic, too.”

“Ah hah!” Niall sat back in his seat looking pleased with himself.

“What?” Zayn asked.

“It’s nothing,” Niall shook his head, stupid grin on his face.

Zayn looked at Liam for some explanation. Liam pointedly ignored Zayn, staying focused on the road. But Zayn didn’t miss the small smile that crept onto the other boys face. 


	5. Nutella

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niall debates whether or not to buy nutella

Once they arrived at the market, Zayn picked up a bottle of wine before putting it down, only to have it be picked up Liam again.

“This,” he said, shoving the bottle back into Zayn’s arms. “Is a yes, most definitely a yes.”

Niall wandered back over a little while later with some pretzel bread and nutella. “Yes or no?”

“I dunno…what do you think Liam?” Zayn asked.

“Well, did you ask if she like nutella?” Liam asked, taking the bread from Niall before the blond boy could begin to eat it.

“No,” Zayn shook his head. “I didn’t think to.”

“What?” Niall gasped. “There is no way we can be around her if she doesn’t like nutella! Call her now, or I’m not going.”

Zayn rolled his eyes, but punched in August’s number and waited for her to answer.

“Hello?” she answered after the 3rd ring.

“Hey, August? It’s Zayn, I just had a question for you.”

“Oh, hey Zayn! What’s up?” He noted she sounded happy…

“Well, Niall and I were talking, and we decided that there is no way we can be friends if you don’t like nutella.” He said, trying to sound serious. Niall was giggling.

“What kind of a question is that?” August sounded offended. _Shit_ Zayn thought, but before he could explain she continued. “Of course I like nutella! Who doesn’t? I whole heartedly agree with Niall.”

Zayn laughed. “You knew it was him, how?”

“Because Anna said pretty much the same thing,” she laughed. “Anyway listen, I’ve gotta go now and get ready. But I’ll see you soon?”

“Yeah, see you soon.” He hung up and smirked at Niall. “We are so totally bringing the nutella.”

~*~

7 o’clock finally rolled around, and Zayn found himself standing in front of a small apartment building. He reached up, and pressed the buzzer for apartment C3.

“Who is it?” said an unfamiliar voice through the intercom.

“Uh, we’re here to see August?” Niall phrased it as a question.

“Ooh! Sure c’mon up,” the person- probably Anna, Zayn decided- buzzed them in through the lobby.

The two boys got in the lift, and hit the 3rd floor button. Zayn fidgeted with the collar on his leather jacket.

“You look right fit, don’t worry.” Niall reassured him as they stepped out of the lift. Zayn tried to smile.

~*~

They’d been given a massive welcome at the door by a girl with dark wavy hair and an insane pair of feather earrings.

“August!” she had called back into the rather small apartment.

“Coming!” came August muffled reply.

The girl smiled warmly at the two boys. “Hi, I’m Anna.” She stuck out her hand.

Niall immediately reached out and grabbed it. “Niall,” he said, suddenly sounding a little shy.

Zayn shook her hand, too, and introduced himself. This probably wasn’t necessary because Anna clearly knew who they were. August came sliding into the living room (where they were now standing) and nearly knocked Zayn over.

“Good one,” Anna remarked dryly.

Niall laughed, quickly clapping a hand over his mouth after Zayn glared at him. Zayn turned to August, helping her off the floor.

“You OK?” he asked, afraid she might have hit her had.

“Yep, I’m OK!” she brushed of the front of her adorable Christmas sweater. “Sorry about that, my socks are super slippery.” She laughed a little.

Anna cleared her throat. “Uh, Niall,” she said grabbing his hand. “Are you any good with cooking?”

“No, but I’m good at test tasting!” Anna laughed, and Niall allowed himself to be dragged into the kitchen area.

Most of the apartment was very open. When you walked in, there was a little foyer were piles of shoes lay, and then to the left were two stairs leading down to the living room. Then again to the right there was the dining room, and a small corner which was the kitchen. Straight down the hallway there were two doors, probably a bed room or two and a bathroom.

Zayn looked around the living room, doing a little snooping. There were some photos of August and who he assumed to be the rest of August’s family. There was one of Anna’s, too. A lot of pictures were of flowers, or nature, and a lot of Anna and August with their friends.

“Where did you get all these pictures?” Zayn asked, impressed. He’d spotted one of a flower, covered in dew with the sunlight hitting it.

“I took most of them,” August walked up to stand next to Zayn. “Do you like them?”

“Yeah,” Zayn nodded. “They’re absolutely amazing!”

“Thanks,” August’s cheeks coloured slightly.

Zayn smiled. He tucked a stray piece of hair behind August’s ear. She looked up, smiling shyly. Zayn leaned in ever so slightly. August stood very still. Zayn leaned in a little further, and August slid her hand around Zayn’s neck. He leaned in all the way.

As August’s eyes fluttered closed, Zayn felt her long lashes brush against his. His eyes closed, and Zayn felt his heart beating wildly. Augusts’ lips were warm and soft. It was over almost as soon as it happened, but Zayn felt all fuzzy and warm and stupid on the inside.

They broke apart, August now blushing wildly. Her cheeks couldn’t possibly turn any darker, Zayn thought amusedly.

Zayn then continued making his way around the room, his hand linked with August’s, occasionally commenting on whatever picture caught his eye. Eventually Anna and Niall called them to eat. 


	6. Food

They sat down around a small table, legs bumping under the table. Anna and Niall had managed to cook up a pretty decent looking pizza, roasted potatoes, and some sort of vegetables.

“Mm this is _so_ good!” Zayn moaned as he bit into his food.

“No thanks to you,” Anna teased.

Niall laughed. Zayn spluttered, trying to find a reason he hadn’t helped.  

“We got preoccupied,” August saved Zayn.

“Sure you were,” Niall and Anna chorused, winking at each other.

“Oh my god, shut up.” August leaned over and smacked Anna on the arm.

~*~

The rest of dinner went pretty well. They chatted about everything and nothing. Zayn learned over the course of dinner all the random adventures Anna and August had been on; from the time they stole someone’s hat and threw it in the dumpster only to tell the boy that they threw his hat in the girl’s toilet. Or the time they stayed up all night watching movies and threw popcorn at the TV, only to get caught at 4 in the morning by their parents.

Anna and Niall seemed to really connect. Zayn was going to have to bug Niall about that later. They would make a good couple…

“Oi, Zayn.” Zayn snapped out of his trance.

“Sorry, food coma,” he continued traipsing down the stairs.

He got to the bottom of the stairs, August close on his heels.

“See you later?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course.” Zayn smiled, and placed a kiss on her cheek.

Niall made kissing noises at them. “Shut up, Nialler.” Niall dodged Zayn’s slap to the back on the head, and ended up backing up into Anna. The two toppled back onto the stairs, Anna squeaking in surprise.

“Oops, sorry,” Niall looked back her, grinning apologetically.

“It’s fine,” Anna shook her head and rolled her eyes. “One of you forgot your phone.” She held out a sleek grey phone.

“Oh, thanks.” Zayn grabbed it from her. “You ready?” he looked at Niall.

“Nah,” Niall shook his head. “Anna’s kind of comfortable.” He nestled his head into Anna’s shoulder.

“C’mon lover boy,” Zayn opened the door and waved at the two girls.

Niall groaned, but got up and followed Zayn out the door. They turned around to wave and say good bye one more time. The boys headed towards car, both satisfied with the night. 


	7. HolY SHIT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn gets the crap scared out of him

By the time both boys stumbled into their flat it was well past midnight. They had ended up going to a burger place down the road to discuss the night’s events before heading back. There, Zayn had been able to get out of Niall that he did indeed like Anna, and that they had exchanged numbers. When Niall asked if Zayn had made a move, Zayn (who usually had no problem telling Niall the details) merely blushed and shrugged his shoulders.

Niall had laughed loudly at that, and made all kinds of cooing noises. Zayn finally shut up him up temporarily by stealing his burger. For the rest of the night, though, Niall had a smug grin on his face and an expression that said “ _I knew it_ ”.

Zayn managed to weave his way through the dark of the flat without killing himself, and slid into his room. He shut the door, and started to fumble for the light switch before he nearly died of a heart attack.

“BOO!” Several voices shouted at him from all different angles.

Zayn spun around, slipping and banging his head against the wall. He let out a string of profanities before standing up again and turning on the light so he could beat the crap out of the boys.

However, he didn’t see them anywhere at first. Zayn huffed and walked over to the closet, throwing the double doors over.

“C’mon you guys,” he whined. “It’s late, where are you tossers?” He got a giggle in response.

Zayn burst into his joint bathroom with Liam, going through the cupboards. He turned to go back into his room when –

“Holy shit!” Zayn yelled for the second time in three minutes.

Liam merely grinned at him and winked.

“How – how?” Zayn was lost for words.

“How did I masterfully come out of nowhere and scare you?” Liam arched an eye brow. “That, my friend, is a secret.” He smiled evilly at Zayn.

Zayn cuffed him around the head. Liam ducked and leaned in to place a quick kiss on Zayn’s cheek.

“Good luck finding the other two, they may have gone off to scare Niall.” Liam slipped into his own room, shutting the door behind him.

Zayn sighed, rubbing his now throbbing head. He checked the closet again, then under the bed. He was about to go and look for them when he heard Niall scream shrilly, and then start cursing. Zayn laughed a little. He heard Harry and Louis’s laughter ring through the hallways. A moment later he saw them when they came crashing into his room, Niall close on their heels.

“Last time, I swear to god. I’m going to kill you two!” Niall was ranting.

Harry toppled into Zayn’s bed, closely followed by Louis who wrapped his arms protectively around the curly haired boy. Niall glared at the two.

“They got you, too?” Zayn asked.

“Yeah, little gits.”

“We’re sorry,” Harry mumbled from his position under Louis.

“Like hell you are!” Zayn laughed. “C’mon Niall, go and get Liam.” Niall looked at him quizzically. “We’re going to make these three sleep with us tonight.” Niall grinned, a surely evil plan unfolding in the blond boys mind.

The rest of the night the boys continued to scare each other before finally falling asleep in a heap around 4 am. 


	8. I don't understand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn gets some nasty news

Zayn woke up, sun streaming through the blinds. He groaned, turning over to bury his face into someone’s chest. The boys would have liked to spend the rest of the morning in bed, drifting in and out of sleep, but soon there came lots of knocking on the door and someone repeatedly ringing the doorbell.

The boys grumbled as the untangled their limbs and traipsed through the apartment to the house. Zayn grabbed a hoodie and pulled it over his head before opening the door.

“Finally, I’ve been calling all morning!”

The boys didn’t bother to stifle their groans of disappointment. At the door was part of their management, a girl named Sarah. She rushed into the apartment, shoving cups of coffee into their hands. The boys slowly began to wake up as they sipped the coffee. They all gathered around the kitchen table.

“So,” Sarah began, plopping down next to Liam. “Zayn and Niall.” She turned her attention to the still mostly asleep boys, pulling out a folder. Zayn groaned loudly. Whenever a folder was pulled out it was usually bad news.

“Where were you two last night?”

“Huh?” Niall looked at Zayn, confused.

“Where were you last night?” Sarah repeated slowly.

“At a friend’s.” Zayn said, unsure of where she was going with this.

“ _Just_ a friend’s?” When Zayn and Niall nodded, Sarah squinted her eyes.

“Well then, you can easily explain these then.” Sarah whipped out a couple of pictures, too high quality for Zayn’s liking.

Liam choked on some of his coffee upon seeing the pictures. One was when the boys were leaving and Niall and Anna had hugged. That one would be easy to down play. The other one…Zayn gulped. Someone had managed to get pictures of Zayn and August that day in Starbucks when they had been standing super close.

“Um, well, we can–“ Niall started.

“No,” Zayn cut in. He paused, thinking. Did he really want to do this yet? “That’s August, and no, she’s not just a friend.” Now it was Sarah’s turn to choke on her coffee.

“What about Perrie?” She practically screeched across the room. “Do you realize that we had a contract with her management? Can you even begin to imagine how much trouble this is going to cause?”

“We had a contract?” Zayn’s stomach dropped, like he just gone over a huge drop on a roller coaster.

“Well,” Sarah started to back track. “I mean, neither of you really knew, but we were in the process of signing Little Mix onto your label but-“

Zayn decided he didn’t want to hear anymore. With that he turned and stalked out of the room. Grabbing his coat and throwing the now slightly cold and shitty coffee in the garbage, Zayn left the flat, making sure to slam the door behind him.

Zayn ran down the steps, slipping on his sunglasses as he went. He heard the boys calling for him to come back, but he ignored him. He needed some time to think.

Zayn wasn’t really sure what bothered him so much about the fact that Modest! had been working on a contract with Perrie’s management. Even if Perrie herself hadn’t known, it still set his teeth on edge. Zayn had always known there stuff that Management did and didn’t tell them about. Zayn thought about Harry and Louis’s twitters, and how people like Sarah were constantly telling them what to tweet. Louis had even had his phone taken away so that they could do some “damage control” after the Larry shippers gathered lots of information and had made a pretty convincing case.

 As much as he loved being in One Direction and working with the boys, he absolutely loathed their management. They had started out as easy going and let the boys do whatever they wanted. But as the boys gained popularity, Management seemed to gain power.

Zayn wandered into the park, which was mostly abandoned. He sank onto one of swings, staring mindlessly at his feet. He wasn’t sure what bothered him the most; the fact that Management controlled every part of their lives, or that they had wanted to suck Perrie into it. Zayn wasn’t really regretting the fact that they had broken up, he was just worried for Perrie’s carrier. She was very talented and Little Mix was a good band. The world needed more good girl-bands.  

Zayn shook his head, taking a deep breath of the freezing air. As much as he didn’t want to go home, he was going to freeze if he stayed on this swing much longer.

He stood up and started walking. 


	9. The Apartment

Zayn almost turned around and went home (as much as he didn’t want to) about four or five times before he reached his destination. He trudged up the steps, feet now frozen from the snow that caked his boots. Of course it snow as he started walking, Zayn thought bitterly.

Zayn rang the buzzer, praying someone was home. After about a minute, he heard someone thumping down the stairs, cursing as they tripped over something. Anna swung open the door, grimacing at the cold air that blew in.

“Zayn?” she sounded like she had just woken up.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “Did I wake you?”

“No, no it’s fine.” She stifled a yawn. “C’mon in.”

He followed her up the short flight of stairs to the lift. They road in silence, Anna rubbing her eyes and looking she was going to fall asleep right then and there, Zayn wondering if he really should have come.

Once they got into the flat, Anna pushed Zayn onto the couch and handed him the clicker. She returned a couple minutes later with some hot chocolate and some cookies. She crawled onto the couch next to Zayn, crossing her legs and pulling a hoodie over her sweats.

“Alright, spill,” she said. “Tell me everything don’t skip any details.”

“You really don’t miss anything, do you?” Zayn chuckled. “All right, well...” He paused. “I guess, it started when I first met August. I knew I liked her from the beginning. I don’t what it was, there was just something that just really drew me to her, you know?” Anna nodded, sipping her hot chocolate slowly.

“And I guess I just, like, decided it was time to end stuff with Perrie anyway and if I could find another nice girl then y’know I could minimize damage? But then I was afraid August wouldn’t like me or that I wouldn’t find her. By then it was too late though. But honestly all I do is fuck stuff up so honestly I don’t even know why I try sometimes.” Zayn was ashamed the way his voice cracked a tiny bit at the end.

He looked up at Anna. Instead of either looking at Zayn like he was a kicked puppy, or like he was over reacting, she just looked like she knew where he was coming from and that it hurt her. She didn’t say anything, just nodded and let him continue. Honestly, Zayn was glad she was just listening. If he stopped now he might never restart.

“And now I find out that Management was trying to hook Little Mix up with our record label, and I might’ve ruined Perrie’s chances of becoming really big and I do think they’re a good band. I really do. I want Little Mix to go places and such, but now…” Zayn didn’t know how to finish. He just buried his face in his hands and tried not to cry.

Anna moved a little closer on the couch, and rubbed soothing circles on Zayn’s back. He took a deep breath, trying to focus on his breathing. He didn’t really understand why he was getting so worked up about this. Maybe it was the lack of sleep.

They didn’t move for a while. It was nice, really. Anna was warm and her silence was strangely comforting. The hot chocolate settled in his stomach, and all he wanted to do now was sleep. So, that’s what he did. 


	10. Snow

When Zayn woke up, it was dark outside. Part of him wanted to jump up and let the boys know where he was, but the part that didn’t want to move just yet won out. Anna was surprisingly still in the same position, arms wrapped around Zayn, only now the TV was on and she was fast asleep slumped over the arm of the couch.

Zayn pulled out his phone, squinting at the brightness. _20 missed calls._ Zayn pulled up his inbox, scrolling through all the _‘Where r u?!’_ and _‘Come back pls xx’_ texts. He texted Liam saying that he was at a friend’s, he might stay the night and not to worry. Liam replied a couple minutes later saying it was OK as long as Zayn didn’t incognito again. 

Zayn sat up slowly, trying not to disturb Anna. He covered her with the blanket before wandering off to explore a little. He discovered the bathroom, which was littered with loads of red lipstick and hair bows and some blue hair dye (it was pretty safe to assume it wasn’t August’s). There was a little study-like room filled to the brim with books, movies and a rack of CD’s. He riffled through, nodding at the good taste the two girls seemed to have. The room was also covered in posters of bands, along with a couple pictures of the girls and their families, along with what appeared to be letters Anna and August had written to each other when they were younger. 

Zayn couldn’t help it. He read all the little bits of letters, standing there looking at the wall like an idiot. The content of the letters (or at least the parts that made the wall) seemed to vary. There seemed to be a lot of doodles involving ‘fandoms’. Anna seemed to like writing ‘Larry’ all over, and they both wrote stuff like ‘Destiel’ and ‘Johnlock’ all over. Whatever that meant, Zayn had no idea. But it was still cute.

Eventually, he reached the door at the end of the hallway. Zayn paused, should he go in? No, that would be invading privacy. He turned to walk down the hallway again. Well, one look couldn’t hurt, right? If it was unseemly, he’d leave.

He pushed open the door, and what he saw was rather interesting. Instead of the absolute mess like he and the boys lived in, it was quite tidy. There were two beds on opposite walls, one with a green duvet and the other a paisley one. The wall with the pink duvet bed was covered in band posters, photos, and a little cork board for important papers. The other wall was more photo’s, and articles ripped out of magazines. There was a window seat, and a large desk covered in more books (although, at least half did look academic).

Zayn wandered over to the window seat. On the ledge of the window there were a couple little plants, and a string of lights that ran the room. Zayn picked up one of the novels off the desk, and sat down to read. He didn’t read too often, since he was usually busy. But it seemed only appropriate that if he were to be here, he should at least read something.

The book itself was not really Zayn’s taste, but there was something comforting about sitting by the window and reading while the snow came down outside. 


	11. Yes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now it's August's turn to tell this last bit

August shut the door quietly, trying not to wake Anna. She looked around, frowning slightly when she saw Zayn’s jacket and boots by the front door. What was he doing here?

August walked around the house, silently looking for Zayn. Finally she pushed open her bedroom door and there he was, quietly sitting in the window reading.

Zayn looked up as August walked in, his face slowly stretching into the most beautiful and heart wrenching sad smile Aug had ever seen. Right away, though, August realized that something was wrong. There was something off about Zayn, but she couldn’t tell what it was.

Zayn got up and walked over to where she was standing in the doorway. He pulled her into a tight hug, burring his face into her neck. She breathing in deeply, inhaling Zayn’s musky scent.

After what could’ve been 5 seconds or 5 minutes, they pulled apart. August took Zayn’s hand led him back to the window seat. She rubbed small circles on the back of his hands, letting him take his time on deciding what to say.

After a couple of minutes, Zayn took a deep breath and began to talk.

“As I’m sure that Anna told you, I had a girlfriend the first time I met you.” August nodded. Perrie, she remembered. Wasn’t she in a band, too? She vaguely remembered Anna really liking them. “Well, when I met you, I just…it’s gonna sound really stupid.” He shook his head. “But I just, well, there was something about you that just drew me to you. And when I broke up with Perrie, it was a really spur of the moment thing.” A million things ran through August’s mind at once, but she tried to push them down and listen to what Zayn had to say.

“I mean, I had thought it over a lot, but I didn’t really think of the consequences.” He paused to look up at August from under his lashes. Despite all he was saying, her heart still fluttered a little. He was so damn gorgeous.

“I didn’t realize this at the time, but Management was trying to hook up Little Mix to our record label. We all really wanted them to take off in the US like we had, and I still really want them too. I mean, they are an amazing group of girls, and I do still like Perrie. Not like that though,” he rushed to amend. August tried to keep her face neutral. She wasn’t sure if it was working or not.

“So when I was spotted with you, apparently Twitter and such went wild. Honestly, if it didn’t impact you and Perrie the way it did, I wouldn’t care. It’s just, being with me, is a lot to handle. And I just…” His voice cracked a little bit. “I just want to make sure you’re OK with that.”

August sat back, trying to process all that Zayn was saying. She had never really liked being the centre of attention, and being photographed everywhere she went wasn’t that appealing. Anna, of course, would probably love. But that wasn’t the point.

There was also that little part of her brain repeatedly going “ _He’s asking you out yes he is yes yes oh my god what do I do no shut up brain be cool about it but he’s ASKING YOU OUT KISS HIM NO NO WAIT WHAT DO I DO HELP ME WHERE’S ANNA_ ”.

“I guess…” She started slowly, unsure of what she guessed. Was August really ready to deal with all the craziness? Did she really want to have this possibly impact her photography career? However, if she did, Zayn could help her with all of it. He had said it himself that he thought she was an amazing photographer.

She looked at Zayn. He seemed so vulnerable right then, biting his lip and trying very hard to look like he wasn’t about to cry. August couldn’t stand it anymore. She leaned in, pressing their lips together. The kiss was short, and filled with so much emotion it made her head spin.

Their lips barely together, she pulled back just enough to look Zayn in the eyes and whisper, “Yes.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I think that's it! (unless I'm commanded to write more, which you're free to do) Thanks so much for the feed back! xx


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